Doremi in Phantasma
by NumionSorcerer1961
Summary: Ten years after the events at the Paris Opera, Akatsuki is now the mastermind of Phantasma, a Coney Island amusement park. Despite the success of his endeavours, he is tortured by the absence of Doremi Harukaze in his life and he longs to hear her sing again. Will she sing at his Pantasma stage for him one last time?
1. Prolouge

Prologue

_The sound of seagulls cawing as the tide rolls relentlessly in. The sun rises to reveal the boardwalk at Coney Island, in winter. _

_Against a dull grey sky are abandoned frames of Coney's famous attractions: a skeletal roller coaster...a frost-covered Ferris wheel...a decrepit steeplechase track. They rise behind a weathered wooden fence pasted with old and tattered show posters, advertising the now-forgotten performers who once delighted millions. _

_A brown-haired woman enters, wrapped in a ragged coat. She is not old, but has clearly been ill-used by time. She stops to gaze at the posters._

Woman: "Phantasma. City of Wonders...Mr. A Presents...Marvels, astonishments...human prodigies. The Ooh La La Girl, five performances daily...Doremi Harukaze, the soprano of the century." Gone. All gone...

_As she trails off, a voice addresses her._

Voice: Yes...there's nothing left. Nothing but ghosts. But I knew you'd come back...Madame Minori Asuka.

_As the voice speaks, its source unfolds itself from the seaside debris: another woman named Onpu, ageless and odd, with purple hair, a pale face, sunken eyes, and a bizarre manner._

Minori: You...still here.

Onpu: Of course we're still here. The freaks, the monstrous, the bizarre...Where else could we exist but here? And after the tragedy...after the master disappeared with the child...after the fire that consumed everything...

Minori: His dream. Our dream...

Onpu: Remember how it was? Remember?  
_(crooning, half-mad)  
_**Coney Isle...  
Glistening and glimmering!  
Rising Bright,  
Drenched with light...**

_As she sings, ghostly fireworks explode overhead._

Onpu:  
**See it smile,  
Beckoning and shimmering!  
All agleam...  
Like a dream...!**

Onpu & Minori:  
**Every fantasy set free!  
Sodom rising by the sea!**

_The dilapidated seaside world begins to transform before their eyes, bursting into Light and color._

Minori:  
**Coney Isle!  
Miracle on miracle!  
Speed and sound  
All around.  
Mile by mile,  
Loud and lewd and lyrical.  
Thrill on thrill,  
Never still.  
All America was there,  
Beggar next to Billionaire!**

**In they came,  
Chasing sensation and Romance...  
Eyes aflame,  
Desperate for pleasures yet unknown.  
Night and day,  
Pouring in by the hundreds of thousands!  
Swept away,  
As their ev'ry desire was made real!**

_The sound of the sea remains for a few moments, then the Coney Island Waltz slowly starts up._

_A vision of the past manifests itself - Coney Island in its heyday. At the height of the reverie:_

Onpu:  
**That's the place that you ruined, you fool!**

Minori: _(Shocked out of her reverie) _Wh..what? What do you mean?

Onpu:  
**That's the world you destroyed with your greed!**

Minori: It wasn't my fault! I couldn't have known...!

Onpu:  
**Don't you remember what happened back then,  
When we...even we...dared to walk among men!  
**_(whispered, softly, gently)  
_**When even a phantom could dream his dark dreams  
Once again...**

_Suddenly, ragtime music sweeps up, obliterating the two women from the future.._


	2. Welcome to Phantasma

Welcome to Phantasma

_The boardwalk, Coney Island, circa 1907_

_The grounds of an ornate amusement park, thronged with delighted holiday makers._

Bystander 1:  
**Hurry up!**

Bystander 2:  
**You won't believe it!**

Bystander 3:  
**Take a look what's over here!**

Bystander 4:  
**Who imagined just how big the place would be?**

Bystanders 2 & 3:  
**The man called Mr. A  
Put it up in just a year!**

All bystanders:  
**It's a little slice of heaven by the sea!**

_More onlookers enter, gazing around in amazement._

Onlooker 1:  
**Look, there's restaurants-!**

Onlooker 2:  
**A midway!**

Onlooker 3:  
**A gigantic concert hall!**

Bystander 1:  
**The biggest funhouse ever seen!**

Onlooker 4:  
**A volcano that erupts each day at three!**

Bystander 2:  
**Wonders brought from 'round the world!**

Onlookers 1 & 2:  
**The season's just begun,  
But Mr. A has got it all!**

Bystander 1:  
**Crystal fountains!**

Bystander 2:  
**Grand pavilions!**

Bystanders 3 & 4:  
**Hell, it musta cost him millions!**

Bystanders/onlookers:  
**It's a little slice of heaven by the sea!**

_The crowd gets bigger, and more festive._

Onlooker 1: Over here!

Crowd (all):  
**The sights! The sounds! The lights! The smells!  
The wonder wheels! The carousels!  
The gardens and arcades,  
The marble colonnades!**

Crowd 1:  
**The rides!**

Crowd 2:  
_(echoing)  
_**The rides!**

Crowd 1:  
**The shows!**

Crowd 2:  
_(echoing)  
_**The shows!**

Crowd 1 & 2:  
**The games of chance!**

Crowd 1:  
**The rush!**

Crowd 2:  
_(echoing)  
_**The rush!**

Crowd 1:  
**The whirl!**

Crowd 2:  
_(echoing)  
_**The whirl!**

Crowd 1:  
**The sheer romance!**

Crowd 2:  
**The sheer romance!**

Bystander 1:  
**And the rumors...**

Bystander 2:  
**What about 'em?**

Bystanders 3 & 4:  
**Things so odd you daren't doubt 'em...**

Onlooker 1:  
**Freaks and monsters...**

Onlooker 2:  
**Aberrations...**

Onlooker 3 & 4:  
**Weird mechanical creations...**

Passerby 1:  
**And the genius who designed it wears a mask!**

Crowd: _(whispers) _A mask! A mask!

Passerby 2:  
**But what's behind it?**

Bystanders:  
**What's behind it?**

Spectators:  
**What's behind it?**

Observers:  
**What's behind it?**

Full crowd:  
**What's behind it?**

_The crowd erupts in a burst of excitement, fanning out through the park, chattering and pointing._

Passerby 1:  
**Fancy ballrooms!**

Passerby 2:  
**Vaulted spaces!**

Onlookers 1 & 2:  
**Shoot-the-cutes and steeplechases!**

Onlooker 3 & 4:  
**A casino!**

Spectators:  
**A museum!**

Passerby:  
**Look! A Roman colosseum!**

Bystander 1:  
**And a concert hall that's bigger than the met!**

All bystanders:  
_(first singly, then building to the full group)  
_**What's inside it?  
What's inside it?  
What's inside it?  
What's inside it?**

_The facade of the amusement park bleeds through whilst the ensemble freeze, and behind the vast posters, Momoko Asuka and two other chorines, peek through a hole and survey the crowd._

Momoko:  
**Jesus, what a crowd.**

Showgirl 1:  
**Nervous?**

Momoko:  
**Just a bit.**

Showgirl 1:  
**Kid, look who you are!**

Showgirl 2:  
**The headline act!**

Showgirl 1:  
**A major star!**

Showgirl 2:  
**You're already a hit.  
**_(to showgirl 1) _Got a match?

Momoko: _(to herself)  
_**Wonder what he'll think...**

Showgirl 1: _(to showgirl 2) _The boss?

Momoko:  
**...if he's even here.**

Showgirl 1:  
**Honey, please...he's here.**

Showgirl 2:  
**And in just two days,  
He'll be there tossing you bouquets at our gala premiere.  
**Picture it-!

Showgirl 1: The cream of Manhattan!

Showgirl 2: Celebrities! Millionaires!

Showgirl 1: Watching you!

Momoko: _(in a private reverie)  
_**I'll be waiting in the wing,  
Wound up tighter than a spring,  
As the house begins to dim.  
And I'll practice ev'ry line,  
Hoping desperately to shine-  
Shining only for him.**

Showgirls:  
**Just imagine how they'll cheer  
At the moment you appear-**

Momoko:  
**Stepping out before the scrim...!  
Let 'em whoop and let 'em call,  
I won't hear the crowd at all-**

Showgirls:  
**No, it's only for him.**

Momoko: _(suddenly self-concious)  
_**Tell me how I look.**

Showgirl 2: Fine.

Momoko: _(worried) _Just fine?  
**What about my hair?**

Showgirl 2:  
**Beautiful.**

Momoko:  
**You swear?**

Showgirl 1:  
**Trust me, once the boss  
Sees how you put that song across-**

Showgirl 2:  
**Hell, he ain't got a prayer.**

Momoko: _(hopefully) _You mean it?

Showgirls:  
**You'll step out into the light-**

Showgirl 1:  
**Looking lovely!**

Showgirl 2:  
**Burning bright!**

Showgirls:  
**All vitality and vim!**

Momoko: _(losing herself in the vision)  
_**Ah-ahh...!  
And I'll rapturously float  
Through the melody he wrote,  
Singing only for him.**

Showgirls:  
**And before the music dies,  
Up the audience will rise,  
Nearly bursting at the brim!  
And you'll stand there in the glow...**

Momoko: _(wistful)  
_**And perhaps, at last he'll know...**

_Another showgirl peeks out the stage door._

Showgirl 3: Girls! Hurry up! We're on!

_And as the girls rush to make an entrance, the gates to Phantasma swing open and the girls come out, now in the company of the speciality acts - Ms. Onpu, as an aerialist, Dr. Hazuki, the brunette barker, and the blue-haired strong woman, Aiko._

Bystander 1: Where is she?

Onlooker 1: Look! There!

Onlooker 2: In the center!

Passerby 1: Just like in the posters!

Passerby 2: It's the Ooh La La Girl!

Onlookers 3 & 4: Momoko Asuka!

Momoko:  
**Welcome each and everyone  
To our firmament of fun!**

Showgirls:  
**A buffet of ballyhoo!**

Momoko & Showgirls:  
**It's where Coney comes to play  
And it's opening today!**

Momoko:  
**And it's only for you!**

Showgirl 1:  
**And you!**

Showgirl 2:  
**And you!**

Showgirl 3:  
**And you!**

Showgirls & Momoko:  
**Entertainment day and night,  
Sure to dazzle and delight!**

Momoko:  
**And of course we'll be there too!**

Showgirls: _(waving and flirting with the crowd)_ Yoo hoo!

Showgirls & Momoko:  
**We're so happy that you're here,  
For the season's big premiere!  
And it's only for you!**

_Momoko does a little curtsey to the audience and runs off. As the showgirls continue to dance, Hazuki steps up._

Hazuki: Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Momoko Asuka, the Ooh La La Girl! Five shows daily, only here at Phantasma. _(Begins to cross fade to Momoko)_ And now, the aerial exoticism of the fabulous Miss Onpu - half bird, half woman, all for only 10 cents a ticket...

_Minori is waiting backstage, and Momoko runs over to her._

Momoko: How was I? Tell me!

Minori: Delightful, Momoko. Just perfect. And I say that not only as your mother...but as your producer.

Momoko: Was he watching?

Minori: I'm sure he was. I'm sure he'll have much to say about how much you've progressed. _(They begin to exit. Then she pauses offhandedly) _By the way, it seems you have an admirer. A certain Mr. Thompson.

Momoko: _(hesitantly) _Is he important?

_They exit_


	3. The Phantom's Lament

The Phantom's Lament

In the darkness of an aerie, a glowing figure of a beautiful red-haired woman suddenly appears. She is ravishing, breathtaking, alive. Behind her circles a maroon-haired man in a mask - the phantom Akatsuki.

He embraces her from behind, and their bodies entwine, but at the height of the ecstatic moment, the woman is revealed to be not in fact real..but a cleverly devised automation.

Akatsuki pulls back, breaking the spell. The lights rise, revealing his workroom.

Akatsuki: _(to the automation)  
_**Ten long years,  
Living a mere facade of life.  
Ten long years,  
Wasting my time on smoke and noise.  
In my mind,  
I hear melodies pure and unearthly,  
But I find,  
I can't give them a voice without you!  
My Doremi...!  
My Doremi...!  
Lost and gone...  
Lost and gone...**

**The day starts.  
The day ends.  
Time crawls by.  
Night steals in, pacing the floor.  
The moments creep,  
Yet I can't bear to sleep  
'Til I hear you sing...**

**And weeks pass.  
And months pass.  
seasons fly.  
Still you don't walk through the door.  
And in a haze,  
I count the silent days  
'Till I hear you sing  
Once more.**

**And sometimes,  
At night time,  
I dream that you are there-  
But wake holding nothing  
But the empty air...**

**And years come.  
And years go.  
Time runs dry.  
Still I ache, down to the core.  
My broken soul  
Can't be alive and whole,  
'Till I hear you sing  
Once more.**

**And music-  
Your Music!-  
It teases at my ear.  
I turn-and it fades away  
And you're not here!**

**Let hopes pass,  
Let dreams pass!  
Let them die!  
Without you, what are they for?  
I'll always feel  
No more than halfway real,  
'Till I hear you sing  
Once more!**

_Gently and lovingly, he covers up the lifeless mannequin. Suddenly, Momoko and Minori burst in. Momoko rushes over to him._

Momoko:  
**Tell me, did you watch?  
Tell me that you saw?  
Did you hear the crowd?  
The way they cheered?  
I hope you're proud-  
Did you like the new routine?  
Was it passable, I mean?  
I can change a thing or two,  
What should I do?  
No, don't say it-I can guess,  
But I promise, I'll progress-**

Akatsuki: _(distracted)_ Yes, of course. Whatever you feel is best...

Momoko:  
**Did the costume look ok?  
Too revealing, would you say?  
People seemed to like the view.**

Minori: Momoko, please!

Momoko:  
**I could show a bit more skin-  
That would surely bring 'em in-**

Minori: _(exploding) _Momoko!

_Momoko stops, wary._

Minori: _(tight, seething)  
_**Can't you see that the master's at work?  
Can't you see that his mind's somewhere else?  
Can't you see  
That obviously  
He's thinking of things more important than you.**

Akatsuki: _(warningly) _Careful, Madame. You're forgetting yourself.

Minori:  
**Don't you see he forgot what this is?  
Op'ning day, big deal, what's the fuss?  
Our success  
Means naught, I guess,  
Compared to the things that the master must do.**

Akatsuki: That's quite enough!

_Minori rips the cover off of the mannequin._

Minori: _(contemptuously)  
_**Doremi! Doremi!**

Momoko: _(disappointed)  
_**...Doremi.**

Minori: Momoko. Leave. Now.

_Without another word, Momoko turns and exits._

Minori: _(once Momoko is gone)  
_**In Paree,  
When the mob surrounded you,  
Who was there?  
We were there!  
Where was she,  
When the lawmen hounded you?  
Gone, long gone.  
We stayed on.  
Who concealed you safe away?  
Smuggled you up to Calais?  
Found a freighter out of France-**

Akatsuki: _(assertive)  
_**I don't see the problem.  
This is ancient hist'ry.**

Minori:  
**And once here,  
When the sideshow hired you,  
Who stood by?  
Momoko and I.  
While they kept you on display,  
Who kept working night and day?  
Who gave you their very lives?**

**And who helped you buy that sideshow?  
Who helped you finance your scheme?  
Who wouldn't quit  
'Till your act was a hit,  
And your hit could become your dream?**

**Who plied the politicians?  
Lured investors and the press?  
No, not her!**

**And who stayed with you,  
Helped you and advised you?  
We stayed with you,  
Loved and idolized you!  
She betrayed you,  
Shunned you and despised you!**

**She chose Kotake, chose his beauty and youth!  
It's long past time you faced up to-!**

Akatsuki: Enough! _(coldly)  
_**You'll be repaid, as I promised you would.  
Now, if you've anything else left to say...?**

_Without another word, Minori exits. For a moment, Akatsuki is thrown. Then he turns to the automation, almost as if for support._

Akatsuki:  
**Oh Doremi!  
My Doremi!  
Yes, you fled from my face once before,  
But Doremi,  
What we shared, even you can't ignore,  
My Doremi!  
I'll be no longer denied!  
I'll have you back by my side,  
My sweet Doremi!**

_He breaks off, overcome. Then, back in control of himself:_

Akatsuki:  
**And come what may,  
I swear somehow, some way,  
I will hear you sing once more!**

_He fades into the shadows_


	4. Doremi comes to America

Doremi comes to America

Pier 69, Manhattan

Outside the Custom House gates

_A little welcome band, playing loudly, sits nearby the dockside at the disembarking of a massive ocean liner. Reporters, photographers, well-wishers and gawkers form an aisle to greet the disembarking passengers. A latecomer rushes in._

Latecomer: Has the Persephone docked yet?

Onlooker 1: Yeah, the passengers are going through customs now.

Onlooker 2: Here they come!

_The first passengers come through the gate: a portly lady wearing an enormous plumed hat, escorted by a dapper gentleman._

Reporter 1: It's Mrs. Astor!

Photographer 1: Hey, Mrs. Astor! Over here!

_Mrs. Astor turns, and flashbulbs go off._

Reporter 2: How was your trip?

Reporter 3: Is that the latest Paris style?

_She blows them a kiss and is escorted to her waiting carriage._

_The crowd is already looking past her._

Onlooker 2: Look, there's Colonel Vanderbilt!

Reporter 1: Hey, Colonel, enjoyed those French pastries, didja?

Colonel Vanderbilt: _(smiles broadly) _There's nothing there we don't have bigger and better over here, I assure you.

Photographer 2: Thanks, Colonel!

_The colonel smiles indulgently, pats his ample waistline lightly as the flashbulbs go off, then moves on._

Reporter 2: Over there, that's Oscar Hammerstein, ain't it?

Photographer 1: Hey, Mr. H, over here, this way!

_Hammerstein approaches the press line._

Reporter 3: How was Europe?

Onlooker 1: Hey, there she is!

_Hammerstein is forgotten. All eyes turn. Suddenly, framed in the gateway, clutching the hand of a gold-hair young girl, stands Doremi Harukaze. She is nearly obscured by veils and a cloche hat, but she is gorgeous, iconic - every inch a star._

_There is a moment of awed silence as the onlookers take in this vision...then pandemonium._

_Flashbulbs explode, as the crowd surges around her._

Reporters & photographers: Doremi Harukaze! Doremi Harukaze! Over here! This way!

_Doremi, still silent, pulls the girl closer, protectively, then-_

Man: Her name is Madame Kotake! Stand aside! Stand aside, please!

_Her husband, Kotake, appears. Dapper and handsome, brusque, irate._

Kotake: No pictures, do you hear? No pictures of my wife, no pictures of the girl!

_But he is ignored in the frenzy._

Reporter 1: Hey Doremi, why Coney Island?

Reporter 2: Your first concert in years, why ain'tcha singin' at the Met?

Kotake: The Vicomtesse has been engaged by the well-known impresario-

Reporter 3: Well-known?!

Reporter 2: No one's ever seen the guy!

Reporter 1: How'd he lure the great Doremi Harukaze over here, anyways?

Reporter 2: It's the money, right?

Reporter 3: All that American moolah!

Reporter 1: Hey Doremi, whatcha gonna sing, "Yankee Doodle Moolah?"

_The crowd guffaws._

Kotake: _(heatedly)_ My wife is an artist, Sir-!

Reporter 2: Yeah, and her art is payin' off your gambling debts, is what they're sayin' in France.

Reporter 3: Is it true you left your entire fortune on a roulette table in Monte Carlo?

Kotake: Why, you insolent Jackal! How dare you-

Girl: Papa-

Kotake: _(snapping)_ Not now, Hana!

Reporter 1: Hey kid, how does it feel to have a famous mother?

Reporter 2: This your first time in America?

Reporter 3: What do you plan to do here at Coney?

Hana: _(shy)_ I...want to learn how to swim.

_The crowd hoots and laughs, and the girl shrinks back against Doremi._

Kotake: I said, leave the child alone! _(he looks around anxiously) _For God's sake, didn't this Mr. A send someone to receive us?

_Suddenly animated, the girl steps forward._

Hana: _(pointing)  
_**Mama, look...!  
Right over there...  
Across the square...  
What is it?**

_All eyes turn as a strange carriage appears, fancifully designed. The horses appear to be mechanical, and the driver's face seems to be completely obscured._

Onlookers: _(muttering amongst themselves)_ What on earth could it be? I've never seen such a thing before in my life! Damn strange, that's what it is! The most peculiar conveyance! Etc.

_Suddenly the doors of the carriage open, revealing...a completely empty interior. And then, three figures extricate themselves from the empty space. They bow in unison at the crowd, then approach Doremi and family with bizarre yet oddly beautiful motions._

Aiko:  
**Are you ready to begin?  
Are you ready to get on?  
You're about to start out  
On the journey of your lives.**

_With a flourish, she reaches behind Hana's ear and pulls out a colored hankerchief, which she then lets go._

Kotake: _(bewildered, outraged) _Is this some kind of joke?

Onlooker 1: No, it's a publicity stunt for that freakshow on Coney!

Reporter 1: It's a front page feature, is what it is! You getting this, Smitty?

Photographer 1: _(snapping pictures) _You betcha!

_The brunette one speaks next._

Hazuki:  
**If you're ready, then get in.  
Once you're in, then we'll get gone.  
And who knows, once it goes,  
Where you'll be when it arrives?**

_With a fluid motion, she removes Kotake's top hat...and suddenly makes it vanish into thin air._

Kotake: This is outrageous!

Onlooker 2: It's amazing!

Onlooker 3: Brilliant!

Onlooker 4: I'm tellin' ya, that Mr. A is an absolute genius!

_Hazuki and Aiko flank the family and walk them towards the carriage as the bird-like Onpu beckons them foward._

Onpu:  
**It's a fun house where the mirrors  
All reflect what's real.**

Onpu & Hazuki: _(whispered)  
_**And Reality's as twisted  
As the mirrors reveal.**

Onpu, Hazuki & Aiko:  
**And the fun is finding out  
What the mirrors show...**

_The group is now at the door of the carriage. Doremi is led inside, then Kotake, protesting._

Kotake: This is unacceptable, do you hear me? I will be taking this up with your employer! Whoever he is!

_Only Hana, the girl, remains outside the carriage._

Hana: _(excited)  
_**Everything  
And everyone-  
It's all just how I dreamed...  
All the freaks  
And all the fun,  
Exactly how I dreamed...  
And Phantasma still awaits...  
Wonder what's behind its gates...**

_The girl climbs in. Suddenly, the carriage rolls off as onlookers watch, speechless, until it disappears._

_The welcome band bursts back into song._

Reporter 1: That was somethin', wasn't it?

Onlooker 1: I was hoping she'd sing. Caruso sang half of Pagliacci for us when he got off the boat.

Reporter 2: Eh, I bet she ain't got it no more, not like the old days. Sure, she's pitch perfect...but empty inside. Like the flame went out or somethin'.

_Someone points to the arrived gates._

Onlooker 2: Look! It's the Rockefellers!

_The reporters rush back to the remaining passengers_


	5. Two Lovers Beneath a Moonless Sky

Two Lovers Beneath a Moonless Sky

A hotel suite. Evening

_Kotake, Doremi and Hana settle into a spacious hotel suite._

_There is a huge window with ornate drapes, a chaise, some chairs and tables, and a piano upon which rests some sheet music._

_As the family enters, Hana runs over to the piano and snatches an object from it. She sits on the floor, preoccupied with her find._

_Kotake immediately goes to the table and pours himself a brandy._

Kotake:  
**What a dreadful town!  
What a vulgar place!  
What an awful mistake to have come here!  
To be on display  
In that shameless way  
For the crude, common, lower-class scum here.  
How do they dare to treat us so!**

Hana:  
**Papa Dear,  
Come play with me,  
Come and see  
This toy I've got-**

_Kotake takes a slug of brandy, slams down his glass._

Kotake:  
**What a snub, at most,  
From our so-called host-  
Did he think sending freaks would be funny?  
Could the fool have thought  
That our pride was bought  
By his filthy american money?  
What a farce!  
What an outright slap in the face-  
It's an utter disgrace-  
I've got a mind to pack and go,**

**Never you mind the debts we owe-  
Who would believe we've sunk this low?**

Hana:  
**Papa, please,  
Come play with me-**

Kotake:  
**Please tell the girl the answer's no!**

_In the moment of silence that follows, Doremi idly plays a few notes from the sheet music on the piano._

Kotake: _(through gritted teeth)_ Must you make that racket?

Doremi: It's the aria I'm to sing tomorrow.

Kotake: It hurts my head.

Doremi:  
**Please let's not fight, Dear...  
I'm sure that no one intended a slight, Dear...**

Kotake:  
**Don't you patronize me,  
It's your fault we came here.**

Doremi:  
**We need the money, that's all.  
That's why things haven't been right, Dear...**

Kotake:  
**Why doesn't it surprise me  
That I get the blame here?**

Doremi:  
**Let's leave tonight, Dear...  
If that would serve to ease your troubled mind...  
Leave the hurt behind.**

_His anger subsides as she soothes him. Then:_

Hana:  
**Papa Dear,  
Come over here,  
And look at what they gave to me.  
Wind it up, and Papa, see-  
Look, it plays a melody.**

_The wind-up toy plays the same little tune that the marching band played at the dockside...until Kotake, unable to hear it, smashes it down._

Kotake: I need some air.

_He moves to the door._

Doremi: Kotake, please...!

Kotake: _(turns at door, roughly) _Please what?

Doremi: Nothing. Only...Kotake, don't drink any more.

_He hesitates a moment, then leaves, slamming the door behind him._

Hana: _(crestfallen)  
_**Papa never plays with me,  
Doesn't he love me?**

Doremi:  
**Love's a curious thing,  
It often comes disguised.  
Look at love the wrong way,  
It goes unrecognized...  
So look with your heart,  
And not with your eyes.  
The heart understands.  
The heart never lies.  
Believe what it feels,  
And trust what it shows.  
Look with your heart-  
The heart always knows.**

**Love is not always beautiful,  
Not at the start...**

**So open your arms,  
And close your eyes tight,  
Look with your heart,  
And when it finds love,  
Your heart will be right.  
**_(Suddenly serious)  
_**Learn from someone who knows...  
Make sure you don't forget.  
Love you misunderstand  
Is love that you'll regret...**

_She trails off...lost, perhaps, in memory. After a long moment:_

Hana: Mama...? _(prompting her)  
_**Look with your heart...  
And not with your eyes...  
The heart can't be fooled,**

Doremi:  
**The heart is too wise.**

Hana:  
**Forget what you think-**

Doremi:  
**Ignore what you hear-**

Hana & Doremi:  
**Look with your heart!  
It always sees clear.**

Hana:  
**Love is not always beautiful,  
Not at the start...**

Doremi:  
**But open your arms...  
And close your eyes tight...  
Look with your heart...  
And when it finds love...  
Your heart will be right.**

_Hana exits, attended by a nanny. Doremi hums the melody to herself as she picks the toy up off the floor where the girl has left it. She winds it and lets it play. Instead of the marching band music, the toy plays a different melody._

_She freezes. Then whirls around. And Doremi and Akatsuki gaze at one another for the first time in ten years. A long, lingering gaze. Then Doremi faints. Akatsuki rushes over to her. He picks her up into his arms and carries her to a chair. Doremi regains conscience._

Doremi:  
**I should have know that you'd be here.  
I should have known it all along.  
This whole arrangement bears your stamp.  
You're in each measure of that song.  
How dare you try and claim me now!  
How dare you come invade my life!**

Akatsuki:  
**Oh, Doremi...  
My Doremi...!  
In that time when the world thought me dead,  
My Doremi,  
On the night just before you were wed,  
Ah, Doremi!  
You came and found where I hid,  
Don't you deny that you did,  
That long ago night..!**

Doremi: _(remembering)  
_**That night...**

Akatsuki:  
**Once, there was a night,  
Beneath a moonless sky,  
Too dark to see a thing,  
Too dark to even try-**

Doremi:  
**I stole to your side  
To tell you I must go.  
I couldn't see your face,  
But sensed you even so.  
And I touched you-**

Akatsuki:  
**And I felt you-**

Doremi & Akatsuki:  
**And I heard those ravishing refrains...**

Doremi:  
**The music of your pulse-**

Akatsuki:  
**The singing in your veins-**

Doremi:  
**And I held you-**

Akatsuki:  
**And I touched you-**

Doremi:  
**And embraced you-**

Akatsuki:  
**And I felt you-**

Doremi & Akatsuki:  
**And with ev'ry breath and ev'ry sigh-**

Doremi:  
**I felt no longer scared...**

Akatsuki:  
**I felt no longer shy...**

Doremi & Akatsuki:  
**At last, our feelings bared,  
Beneath the moonless sky.**

Doremi:  
**And, blind in the dark,  
As soul gazed into soul,  
I looked into your heart,  
And saw you pure and whole.**

Akatsuki:  
**Cloaked under the night,  
With nothing to suppress,  
A woman and a man,  
No more and yet...no less.  
And I kissed you-**

Doremi:  
**And caressed you-**

Akatsuki & Doremi  
**And the world around us fell away.  
We said things in the dark  
We never dared to say.**

Akatsuki:  
**And I caught you-**

Doremi:  
**And I kissed you-**

Akatsuki:  
**And I took you-**

Doremi:  
**And caressed you-**

Akatsuki & Doremi:  
**With a need too urgent to deny.  
And nothing mattered then,  
Except for you and I,  
Again and then again,  
Beneath the moonless sky.**

Akatsuki:  
**And when it was done,  
Before the sun could rise,  
Ashamed of what I was,  
Afraid to see your eyes,  
I stood while you slept,  
And whispered a goodbye.  
And slipped into the dark  
Beneath the moonless sky.**

Doremi:  
**And I loved you.  
Yes, I loved you!  
I'd have followed anywhere you led.  
I woke to swear my love,  
And found you gone instead.**

Akatsuki:  
**And I loved you!**

Doremi:  
**Oh, I loved you!**

Akatsuki:  
**And I left you!**

Doremi:  
**How I loved you!**

Akatsuki:  
**And I had to-  
Both of us knew why...**

Doremi:  
**We both knew why...**

Akatsuki & Doremi:  
**And yet I won't regret,  
From now until I die,  
The night I can't forget  
Beneath the moonless sky.**

Akatsuki:  
**And now?**

Doremi:  
**How can you talk of now?  
For us-  
**_(she breaks off)  
_**There is no now.**

_She sweeps out onto the balcony, and he follows. Together, against the night sky, with the world at their feet...and yet irreparably apart._

Doremi:  
**Once upon another time,  
Our story had only begun.  
You chose to turn the page,  
And I made choices too.  
Once upon that other time,  
We did what we thought must be done.  
And now, we have no choice.  
We do what we must do...  
We love.  
We live.  
We give what we can give.  
And take what little we deserve.**

Akatsuki:  
**Once upon another time,  
I knew how our story would end,  
And maybe I was wrong,  
But now the moment's gone.  
Were it still that other time,  
I'd make time itself somehow bend!  
But now I'm not that strong,  
And time keeps moving on...**

Akatsuki & Doremi:  
**We love.  
We live.  
We give what we can give.  
And take what little we deserve.  
We love.  
We live.  
We give what we can give.  
And take what little we deserve...  
Once upon another time.**

_Hana runs in wildly, breaking the mood, and buries her face in her mother's dress._

Hana: _(apprehensive)  
_**Mama, please - I'm scared!  
What a dream - An awful dream!  
Someone strange and mad,  
Seizing me, and drowning me...**

_The girl, sensing another presence in the room, turns from her mother to look, and sees Akatsuki._

Doremi: Shh...Hana, it's all right. _(sings) _**Come and meet a friend of mine...**

Akatsuki: _(with a courtly flourish)  
_**Welcome to my world, my friend.**

Doremi: Hana, this is...Mr. A.

Hana: _(eyes widening) _This place...is yours?

Akatsuki: Every inch of it. _(leaning closer, conspiratorially)_**  
Tell me where you'd like to go...  
Tell me what you want to see...  
I can grant any wish...**

Hana: _(shyly)  
_**Could you show me, if you please,  
All the island's mysteries?  
All that's strange and wild and dark  
In the shadows of the park?**

Akatsuki: You shall see it all tomorrow. I promise.

_And suddenly, he vanished!_

Doremi: Back to sleep now, Hana.

Hana: Yes, Mama.

_She exits to the bedroom. Alone, Doremi begins to undress in front of her mirror. She gazes at her own reflection...seeing herself as she was ten years ago_


	6. Old Friends Reunited

Old Friends Reunited

Backstage at the theatre. The next day

_Momoko and the other dancers are rehearsing their big number._

Dance Captain: 5, 6...a 5, 6, 7, 8!

Momoko & Showgirls:  
**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach,  
Bathing Beauty,  
Say hello!  
What a cutie!  
What a peach!  
Bathing Beauty!  
Watch her go!**

Stage Manager: _(from onstage) _All right, Momoko, take five. Girls, take it one more time.

Momoko & Showgirls:  
**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach,  
Bathing Beauty,  
Say hello!  
What a cutie!  
What a peach!  
Bathing Beauty!  
Watch her go!**

**Posing under her parasol  
She is whatcha call a real spectacle.  
Prim and proper,  
With class and poise,  
But she's got the boys Apoplectical!**

**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach,  
See her practic'lly glow!  
Wearing a smile  
And giving Coney Island  
A bathing beaut of a show!  
Wearing a smile  
And giving Coney Island  
A bathing beaut of a show!**

_Momoko finds Minori waiting for her._

Minori: Very nice, Momoko.

Momoko: _(anxiously) _Do you think so, Mother? Really?

Minori: _(smiling) _You've come a long way since the beginning of the season.

Momoko: Does he agree? It's been three months, he never comes to see the show. Even a word from him, just one...

Minori: You may get more than that. _(leaning closer) _He has been composing again, late at night. Not this cheap vaudeville trash. Something glorious.

Momoko: _(not daring to hope)_ ...for me?

Minori: Continue to work hard. Make yourself useful to him.

_Minori exits. Once she's gone Momoko practically vibrates with happiness. She is in her own private world as Doremi and Hana enter._

Hana: Mama!

Doremi: _(laughing) _Patience, Hana! First I must find the stage manager, my dressing room, the musical director-

Hana: And then we'll go look for our friend? And go see the island?

Doremi: I'm sure he'll send for you when he's ready. _(to the oblivious Momoko) _Excuse me, Miss, would you mind-

_Momoko stops short, looks up, stares._

Momoko:  
**Heaven help me, could it be-?  
No, it couldn't possibly-**

Doremi:  
**Sorry, do I-?**

Momoko:  
**Yes, I think you do!**

Doremi:  
**Have we-?**

Momoko:  
**Go on, take a guess!**

Doremi:  
**Wait - it can't be!- Is it-?**

Momoko:  
**Yes!**

Doremi:  
**Oh my god, I can't believe it's you!**

Momoko:  
**Look at you, Doremi!  
Regal as a queen, and beautiful!**

Doremi:  
**Momoko, and you as well!  
I could hardly tell it's you-!**

Momoko & Doremi:  
**My dear old friend!  
Can't believe you're here old friend!**

Doremi:  
**After all this time!**

Momoko:  
**So glad you came!**

Doremi:  
**You look...sublime!**

Momoko:  
**You look the same!**

Momoko & Doremi:  
**My sweet old friend,  
Never thought we'd meet, old friend!**

Doremi:  
**Look at you, a star!**

Momoko:  
**And you a wife!**

Momoko & Doremi:  
**And isn't life  
A splendid thing?**

Doremi:  
**And here we are-**

Momoko:  
**To see the sights?**

Doremi:  
**And sing.**

Momoko: _(taken aback) _To...sing?

Doremi: And of course as a treat for my daughter. Momoko, meet Hana...

Momoko: _(ignoring the girl) _Who hired you to sing here?

_Kotake enters and walks, stunned, toward Momoko..._

Kotake:  
**You!**

_...and right past her, astonished at another figure who has just appeared._

Minori: _(stunned)  
_**It can't be you!**

Kotake:  
**Is this a jest?**

Minori:  
**How can this be?**

Kotake:  
**We've come to work.**

Minori:  
**At whose request?**

Kotake: _(producing an envelope)  
_**The contract's here.**

Minori: _(snatching from him.)  
_**I want to see.  
**_(opens, skims)  
_**My god, the price.**

Kotake:  
**It's rather high.**

Minori:  
**Why, it's absurd!**

Kotake:  
**Oh yes, I know.  
Inform your boss  
That, by the by,  
The fee goes up,  
Or else we go.**

Kotake & Minori:  
**My dear old friend,  
Here's how things appear, old friend-**

Minori:  
**He who pays the bill-**

Kotake:  
**Times two or three.**

Minori:  
**Be sure he will.**

Kotake:  
**And handsomely.**

Kotake & Minori:  
**And dear old friend,  
Now that we are clear, old friend-**

Minori:  
**That's all very well,  
But 'till you're gone  
You'll wait upon  
My boss's whim.**

Kotake:  
**Ah yes, your boss-  
And who is that?**

Minori:  
**It's him.**

_The focus turns back to Momoko and Doremi._

Momoko:  
**Sorry, did I hear you right?  
Here to sing?**

Doremi:  
**Tomorrow night.**

Momoko:  
**I'm afraid there must be some mistake.  
You can't be performing.**

Doremi:  
**Why?**

Momoko:  
**Mainly, Dear, 'cause so am I.  
I'm in fact the star, for heaven's sake!  
What are you to sing?**

Doremi:  
**Just one little thing- an aria.**

Momoko: _(reeling) _No...

Doremi:  
**Please, you needn't fret,  
I'm sure you will get your due...**

_Back to Minori and Kotake._

Kotake:  
**Him!**

Minori:  
**That's what I said.**

Kotake:  
**You work for him!**

Minori:  
**Now so do you.**

Kotake:  
**And my poor wife-  
We thought him dead!  
She'll be appalled!**

Minori:  
**Unless she knew.**

_Kotake is thunderstruck. He storms over to Doremi._

Doremi:  
**Darling...please...Are you all right?**

_Kotake seizes her roughly._

Kotake:  
**Tell me now! That music!  
Who was its creator?**

Doremi:  
**Darling, please...don't squeeze so tight.**

Kotake:  
**Something's going on here-  
I'll deal with you later...**

_As they confer, Momoko and Minori have their own whispered colloquy:_

Momoko: _(sotto voice)  
_**Did you know?**

Minori: _(sotto voice)  
_**How could I know?  
Why would they come?**

Momoko: _(sotto voice)  
_**Why won't they go?**

_All four catch each others' eyes and immediately regain their social graces._

Momoko/Minori/Doremi/Kotake:  
**My dear old Dear old  
friends! friends!  
Can't believe Such good  
you're here, friends!  
Old friends!**

Minori:  
**Speaking as your host-**

Momoko:  
**As an artiste-**

Doremi  
**What a surprise-**

Kotake:  
**To say the least.**

Momoko/Minori/Doremi/Kotake:  
**Yes, dear old friend,  
That's a happy tear, old friend!  
I can't conceal,  
Try though I may,  
The way I feel  
So why pretend?  
I'm sure it's clear,  
To such a dear old friend!**

Minori: _(sotto voice to Doremi)  
_**You mustn't stay!**

Doremi: _(sotto voice to Minori)  
_**Why would I leave?**

Kotake: _(sotto voice to Momoko)  
_**Why are we here?**

Momoko: _(sotto voice to Kotake)  
_**Don't play naive!**

Momoko/Minori/Doremi/Kotake:  
**What dear old friends!  
Don't we all revere old friends!**

Kotake:  
**Nothing has been changed.**

Momoko:  
**And never will.**

Minori & Doremi:  
**Just rearranged.**

Momoko/Minori/Doremi/Kotake:  
**And yet we're still  
Such grand old friends,  
Such devoted and old friends!  
Word's could not suggest  
What's in my heart-  
And for the rest,  
Why even start?  
**

**You're dear Dear old  
old friends, friends!  
So much more Such true  
than mere friends!  
Old friends!  
Back again as last, Back again,  
With everyone, Everyone,  
Isn't this great! God it's great!  
Won't this be fun! So much fun!  
With dear old friends-  
Utterly sincere old friends!**

Momoko: _(to Doremi, smiling, with venom)  
_**Honey, break a leg.**

Kotake: _(overly polite, to Minori)  
_**Madame, good day.**

Minori: _(pointedly, to Kotake)  
_**Enjoy your stay.**

Doremi: _(with too much charm)  
_**Hope it extends.**

Momoko/Minori/Doremi/Kotake:  
**So glad you're here.  
Our lovely dear old friends!  
Old friends!**

_As Doremi and Kotake turn to leave, she calls out to her child:_

Doremi:  
**Hana?**

_The girl has vanished._

Doremi: _(a bit more insistently)  
_**Hana...?  
**_(puzzled)  
_**Hana...?**

Kotake: _(irritated) _Must we always be chasing after the girl? I promise you, when I find her-

Doremi: _(too quickly) _No!

_They all turn to look at her._

Doremi: I'll look for her.

_Kotake and Minori exit. Doremi waits until they are gone, then wordlessly races off in the other direction._

_Only Momoko is left. The stage manager enters and rushes past her, followed by a gaggle of girls._

Stage Manager: Break's over, Momoko. Back to work.

Momoko: And 5, 6, 7, 8!

_Momoko doesn't move. Her mind is working._

Showgirls:  
**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach.  
Bathing Beauty,  
Say hello!**

**What a cutie!  
What a peach!  
Bathing Beauty!  
Watch her go!**

_Finally, she turns and exits_


	7. Hana's True Father

Hana's True Father

The aerie

The trio of Onpu, Aiko, and Hazuki are leading Hana up through a series of staircases to the aerie.

Hana: Who are you? Where are you taking me?

Onpu: I am Miss Onpu.

Aiko: The Amazing Aiko.

Hazuki: Dr. Hazuki.

Trio: At your service.

Onpu: And...his.

Hazuki:  
**Come along and follow us,**

Onpu:  
**Come and follow faster.**

Aiko:  
**Come along and follow us,**

Trio:  
**Come and meet the master.  
**

**Hurry up and follow us,  
Hurry if you care to...  
Soon the dark will swallow us,  
Follow if you dare to...!**

_They arrive now at the top of the park, a place of mannequins and masks, where, in a corner Akatsuki is at work on a bizarre table, out of which seems to grow half a human being with five arms. This is a magical construct of Akatsuki's, designed to produce his music_

Hana: _(looking around) _Is this where Mr. A lives?

Hazuki: This is where he works.

Onpu: Step lively, child.

Aiko: He is waiting.

Hana: _(gazing about, enchanted)  
_**What is this place?**

_Akatsuki ceases his working on one of the musical contraptions._

Akatsuki:  
**This is my realm, Illusion's Domain,  
Where music and beauty and artifice reign.**

Go look around while I finish my work

_Hana is drawn, as if by some mysterious yearning, to a piano nearby._

Hana: May I...?

_Hana begins to play. A simple yet eerie tune._

Akatsuki: _(intrigued) _What's this?

Hana:  
**Just a song in my head...**

Akatsuki: Go on...

_Hana begins the tune again._

Hana:  
**I think it's beautiful.  
Beautiful, beautiful notes.  
Beautiful, beautiful sounds,  
Don't you agree?  
It's beautiful!**

Akatsuki: _(mesmerized) _This girl...

Hana:  
**So very beautiful!**

Akatsuki: This music...

Hana:  
**Music that comes uncontrolled...**

Akatsuki: She plays like me...

Hana:  
**Haunting and lovely and bold...**

Akatsuki:  
**She's just ten years old...**

_Akatsuki listens, enraptured, as the girl's melody becomes richer and more impassioned. And then, suddenly:_

Akatsuki:  
**Ten years old!**

_(thunderstruck) _My god! _(with mounting excitement) _My god!

_Sudenly, Akatsuki signals to the trio, and Onpu runs to a lever and pulls down a beautiful prototype of the half bird/half creature she performs in her act. She, herself, is transfixed by its beauty, as is the girl._

_Pulling Hana off the piano bench, Akastuki questions her._

Akatsuki:  
**Have you ever yearned to go  
Past the world you think you know?  
Been in thrall  
To the call  
Of the beauty underneath?**

**Have you let it draw you in,  
Past the place where dreams begin?  
Felt the full  
Breathless pull  
Of the beauty underneath?**

**When the dark unfolds its wings,  
Do you sense the strangest things?  
Things no-one would ever guess?  
Things mere words cannot express?**

Hana: _(hypnotized)  
_**Yes!**

_Now, Akatsuki signals to Hazuki, who reaches over the piano and pulls away a cloth, revealing a chandelier made almost entirely of beautiful heads. As if by magic, the heads sing an ethereal accompaniment as the girl watches in wonder. Akatsuki signals now to Aiko, who brings from the background a magnificent figure of a blue-armored warrior, and when the girl is close, the figure seems to come to life frighteningly, but the girl continues to be both brave and utterly enchanted by the fabulous creatures everywhere._

Akatsuki:  
**Do you find yourself beguiled  
By the dangerous and wild?  
Do you feed  
On the need  
For the beauty underneath?**

**Have you felt your senses surge  
And surrendered to the urge?  
And been hooked  
As you looked  
At the beauty underneath?**

**When you stare behind the night,  
Can you glimpse its primal might,  
Might you hunger to possess?  
Hunger that you can't repress?**

Hana: _(in ecstasy) _Yes!  
**It seems so beautiful!  
So strange yet beautiful!  
Everything's just as you say!**

Akatsuki:  
**And she's so beautiful...  
Perhaps too beautiful.  
What I suspect cannot be...  
And yet somehow we both see  
The very same way!**

_Now Hana takes the lead, pulling Akatsuki to her in excitement._

Hana:  
**Is there music in your head?  
Have you followed where it led?  
And been graced  
With a taste  
Of the beauty underneath?**

**Does it fill your every sense?  
Is it terribly intense?  
Tell me you  
Need it too,  
Need the beauty underneath!**

_Ecstatic, the girl and Akatsuki look with amazement at each other and sing together._

Akatsuki & Hana:  
**When it lefts its voice and sings,  
Don't you feel amazing things?  
Things you know you can't confess?  
Things you thirst for nonetheless?**

_The girl lies on the piano reaching up to the magical singing heads as Akatsuki stares at her in disbelief._

Hana:  
**It's all so beautiful!**

Akatsuki: Can it be?

Hana:  
**Almost too beautiful!**

Akatsuki & Hana:  
**Do you see what I see?**

_And yet another wondrous sight..._

Hana: Heavenly!

Akatsuki:  
**To her, it's beautiful-  
My world is beautiful!**

Hana:  
**How can this be what it seems?**

Akatsuki & Hana:  
**All of my most secret dreams,  
Somehow set free!**

Akatsuki:  
**You can feel it..**

Hana: Yes...

Akatsuki:  
**Come closer...**

Hana: Yes!

Akatsuki:  
**You've no fear of the beauty underneath...**

Hana:  
**Ah!**

Akatsuki:  
**You can face it,**

Hana: Yes...!

Akatsuki:  
**You can take it,**

Hana: Yes...!

Akatsuki:  
**You see through to the beauty underneath!  
To the splendour!**

Hana:  
**And the splendour!**

Akatsuki:  
**And the glory!**

Hana:  
**Glory!**

Akatsuki:  
**To the truth of the beauty underneath.**

Hana:  
**The beauty underneath!**

_Akatsuki spreads his arms to embrace the child._

Akatsuki:  
**You'll accept it!**

Hana: Yes!

Akatsuki:  
**You'll embrace it!**

Hana: Yes!

Akatsuki:  
**Let me show you the beauty underneath!**

Hana:  
**The beauty underneath!**

Akatsuki:  
**To the splendour!**

Hana:  
**Splendour!**

Akatsuki:  
**And the glory!**

Hana:  
**And the glory!**

Akatsuki:  
**To the truth of the beauty underneath!**

Hana:  
**The beauty underneath!**

Akatsuki:  
**You'll accept it!**

Hana: Yes!

Akatsuki:  
**You'll embrace it!**

Hana: Yes!

_As Hana comes face to face with him, Akatsuki pulls away the mask._

Akatsuki:  
**Let me show you the beauty under-**

_Hana beholds Akatsuki's face, and screams in terror. The moment is shattered._

_Akatsuki turns quickly away, hiding his face. Hana truns and runs..._

_...straight into the arms of Doremi._

Doremi: Hana! It's all right! It's me! _(horrified) _Hana!

_Hana pulls away, and Doremi sees that she is petrified._

Doremi: _(to trio) _Please, take her away.

_Onpu takes the girl by the hand, and, with the other two, leads Hana away._

_Now Akatsuki and Doremi are alone. He has put his mask back on._

Doremi: I'm so sorry. Please, forgive her. She meant no harm.

Akatsuki: _(stepping towards her, intense)  
_**How could you think I wouldn't guess?**

Doremi: What do you mean...?

Akatsuki:  
**How could you think I wouldn't know?**

Doremi: _(panicked) _Oh no...!

Akatsuki: _(pressing her)  
_**Do you have something to confess?**

Doremi: _(backing away) _ Please, don't make me...

Akatsuki: _(grabbing her, brutal)  
_**I want the truth, right now, it so...!**

_Doremi pulls away, looks his full in the face._

Doremi:  
**Once upon another time,  
You went off and left me alone.  
But that's not all you did...  
You left me with a daughter.**

**Ever since that other time,  
I wish, how I wish, you'd have known!  
I kept the secret hid-  
The secret my marriage forbid-  
You are her true father!**

**Just love...**

Akatsuki: _(in wonder)  
_**A daughter...**

Doremi:  
**Just live...**

Akatsuki:  
**My daughter...!**

Doremi:  
**Just give what I could give,  
And take what little I deserve...**

Akatsuki: My own flesh and blood. _(in anguish) _And even she recoils in horror from me. Just like her mother.

Doremi:  
**Forgive me...  
I beg you...  
If you can  
I've brought you nothing but woe.  
Tomorrow night,  
I'll sing with all my might...  
Sing for you again...**

Then we'll go.

_She turns and is gone. Akatsuki watches her vanish. Then, lost in thought:_

Akatsuki:  
**From out of ugliness, such light!  
From out of darkness, such a flame!  
In her my wrongness is made right...  
And yet she loathes me, just the same...  
So let her shun me in disgust!  
Let her flee this cursed face!  
If I must hide from her, I must...  
Yet shall she be my saving grace...**

**For Doremi-  
My Doremi-  
If it's true I've no reason to live,  
Then, Doremi...  
Then our girl shall have all I can give  
Ah, Doremi!  
All I create on this Earth,  
All that I'll never be worth,  
All shall be hers!**

_In triumph, he turns, and vanishes upstage. Suddenly, out of the depths of the edges of the Aerie comes Minori - twisted, furious. She has seen it all. Behind her, in the shadows, is Momoko._

Minori:  
**Ten long years, and he casts us aside!  
Ten whole years, this is how we're repaid!  
Ten dark years of toil and tears  
And now what we worked for will go to that child!  
**

**All our hopes were at last in our grasp!  
All the dreams and the plans that we laid!  
Everything is vanishing-  
And we get discarded, rejected, reviled!  
All of the bonds in between us, now torn!  
All of the love that we gave him, forsworn!  
All would be ours-  
If that brat had never been born!**

_In a rage, she seizes the nearest thing at hand - the small coat of Hana, and with one gesture, she rips it in two. She storms out. Momoko picks up a half of the coat and looks down the stairs where her mother has just disappeared._


	8. The Bet Between Old Enemies

The Bet Between Old Enemies

_The Bar_

_Inside a desolate and decrepit bar at the end of the Coney Island Pier. A long grimy mirror runs along the back wall of the bar, reflecting the empty room._

_Kotake sits alone on a bar stool, still in his rumpled clothes from the night before, several empty glasses in front of him. He has evidently been there all night._

Kotake: One more.

Barman: Aww, buddy, don'tcha think you had enough? It's practically morning already.

Kotake: One more, I said!

Barman: All right, all right. _(pouring a drink) _My shift is over anyway, so let's settle the bill, ok?

_Kotake dumps a handful of change on the bar._

Barman: Jeez, you're in a bad way, ain'tcha. Worse than most that end up here.

_A door behind the bar opens._

Barman: Here's the morning shift. Maybe he'll know what to do with you.

_He grabs his coat and exits as another bartender enters; the new bartender immediately turns his back on Kotake._

Kotake: Yes, what to do with me. That's the question, isn't it. That's always been the question, ever since the beginning...  
**She looks for sympathy,  
I give her sorrow.  
She asks for honesty,  
I've none to borrow.  
She needs my tender kiss,  
She begs it of me!  
I give her ugliness.  
Why does she love me?**

**She yearns for higher things,  
Things I can't give her.  
The rush that music brings,  
I can't deliver.  
And even when she sings,  
And soars above me,  
I try to clip her wings-  
Why does she love me?  
**_(turns to the figure behind the bar)  
_**One more drink, Sir...  
That's what I need, don't you think, Sir?  
**_(turns away)  
_**Leave the hurt behind...**

_The bartender lifts his head, and for the first time his face is reflected in the mirror. It's Akatsuki._

Kotake: _(roughly) _Didn't you hear me? Another drink!

_Without a word, he pours a glass and shoves it in front of Kotake. Kotake, oblivious, reaches for the glass, and drinks._

Kotake:  
**She wants the man I was,  
Husband and father.  
At least, she thinks she does.  
She needn't bother.  
Beneath this mask i wear,  
There's nothing of me.  
Just horror, shame, despair.  
Why does she love me?**

**How 'bout you, Sir?  
Tell me, what am I to do, Sir...?  
Leave the hurt behind...**

_Suddenly, the door flies open. Momoko enters in a bathing costume. Her hair is wet, and she is wrapped in a towel._

Momoko:  
**Morning, Bernie!  
Coffee, please!  
Hurry up, before I freeze!  
I'll just take it black-**

_Momoko stops dead in her tracks. Kotake, startled, turns._

_Akatsuki, also startled, whirls around to hide his face. During the following exchange he takes the opportunity to vanish._

Momoko: Mother said I'd find you here.

Kotake: _(stands, with an attempt at dignity) _Miss Asuka.

Momoko: Do you know where you are?

Kotake: Hell, I imagine?

Momoko: Around here, they call it "Suicide Hall". It's where people end up when they don't know where else to go. The hopeless...the desperate. A good place to step off the side of the pier and quietly vanish.

Kotake: _(drily) _You seem to be a regular.

Momoko: _(simply) _Me? I come here to swim.  
**This town is coarse, and cold, and mean.  
It's hard to keep your conscience clean.  
Faceless in the crowd,  
Anything's allowed.**

**And so I come at dawn each day,  
Come to wash it all away...  
Sink into the sea,  
Blue and cool and kind,  
Let it set me free...  
Let the past unwind...  
Leave the hurt behind.  
**_(speaks)_  
You should never have come to America. It's not a place for people like you and Doremi. It's too easy to forget who you are and where you belong. That's why Mother says you must leave here. Now. Take your wife and the girl and go.

Kotake: Leave? But what about tonight? The concert? The money? Am I to just run away? From him?

Momoko: (nodding) And when the sun rises tomorrow, we can all start again. Clean.**  
Sail across the sea...  
Put us out of mind...  
Close you eyes and flee...  
Let yourself stay blind...  
Leave this place behind.**

_Momoko turns, and runs off._

Kotake: Miss Asuka! _(calling after her) _I'm not afraid of him! I've bested him before! And if he ever had the courage to meet me face to face, man to man-

_He turns to re-enter the bar...only to find himself face-to-face with Akatsuki._

Kotake: No...it can't be!

Akatsuki: Not afraid of me, you say?

Kotake: _(staggering a bit) _Stay back! Or I'll kill you, I promise you.

Akatsuki: Of course. As you say, you've beaten me before. But that was a long time ago, Vicomte. And we were playing a different game.  
**Look at you,  
Deep in debt,  
Stinking drunk,  
Pitiful.  
Shall we two  
Make a bet,  
Devil take the hindmost?**

Kotake:  
**Look at you,  
Foul as sin...  
Hideous!  
Horrible!  
Call the stakes,  
Deal me in,  
Devil take the hindmost!**

Akatsuki:  
**Our Doremi  
Shall choose  
Tonight,**

Kotake:  
**Let her choose.**

Akatsuki:  
**Is she yours  
Or mine?**

Kotake:  
**Draw the line.**

Akatsuki:  
**If she sings,  
You lose  
Tonight.**

Kotake:  
**I won't lose!**

Akatsuki:  
**You leave from  
Here-**

Kotake: Fine!

Akatsuki:  
**Disappear!**

Kotake: Fine!  
**And if she won't-  
If I win?**

Akatsuki:  
**All you debts-  
Wiped away.**

Kotake:  
**Very well...  
Let's begin.**

Akatsuki & Kotake: _(shaking hands)_**  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Akatsuki:  
**Our old game,  
It's been changed,  
Every throw  
Riskier,  
All the rules,  
Rearranged,  
Fate has redesigned most.**

**Cut the deck,  
Let us play.  
You and I,  
Once again.  
In the end,  
Either way-  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Kotake: _(simultaneous with above)  
_**You think you have the odds.  
You think you're in control.  
You think you've fixed the dice.  
Well I will gladly roll.  
I'll bet against the house,  
I'll even double down-  
Fortune's on my side.  
I won her long ago,  
I won her from you then,  
I wager even now,  
I'll win her back again.  
And when the game is done...  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Akatsuki & Kotake:  
**Now Doremi  
Shall choose at last-  
Is she yours or mine?**

Kotake:  
**We've a daughter-  
Our bond's secure.**

Akatsuki:  
**Are you sure?**

Kotake: _(faltering) _Wh..

Akatsuki:  
**Are you so sure?**

Kotake: What do you mean?

Akatsuki:  
**Such a child...  
Strange to see...  
Different...  
Musical...  
Is she more  
You or me?  
Which one do you find most?**

Kotake: _(blanching) _You lie!

Akatsuki:  
**Deal the cards,  
Let them fall.  
Choose your hand,  
Try your best.  
He who wins,  
Wins it all**

Kotake: _(simultaneously with the above)  
_**I call your bluff!  
The game is on!  
And we will see  
Who wins out,  
Once and for all  
Wins it all**

Akatsuki & Kotake:  
**Devil take the hindmost!**

Akatsuki:  
**Deal the cards,  
Let them fall.  
Choose your hand,  
Try your best.  
He who wins,  
Wins it all**

Kotake: _(simultaneously with the above)  
_**I call your bluff!  
The game is on!  
And we will see  
Who wins out,  
Once and for all  
Wins it all**

Akatsuki & Kotake:_ (whispered, half-spoken)  
_**Devil take the hindmost!**

Akatsuki: She walks-you leave together. Pockets full. Debts paid. She sings, you leave alone.

_He pushes Kotake away...and vanishes. From the empty air, a whisper:_

Akatsuki: _(menacing)  
_**Devil take the hindmost...**

_Kotake stares at the empty place where a man had just stood. Then, realizing the enormity of the bet he has just made:_

Kotake: My God...What have I done. Look at me...and the concert is only hour away...

_He stumbles off the pier towards the beach, as the first beachgoers of the day begin arriving on the sand._


	9. The Ooh La La Girl Betrayed

The Ooh La La Girl Betrayed

_On the beach_

Beachgoers group 1:  
**It's the last day of the season  
And there ain't a single cloud!  
What a day to leave the city on a spree!  
Away from all the hustle and the bustle and the crowd.  
On a little slice of heaven by the sea!**

_Another group of beachgoers appears. Then another._

Beachgoers group 2:  
**It's the last day of the season  
To indulge in simple joys!**

Beachgoers group 1:  
**Forget the fact'ry and the slum!**

Beachgoers group 2:  
**To be rested and relaxed and fancy-free!**

Beachgoers group 1:  
**One day more then back to work...**

Beachgoers groups 1 & 2:  
**To flee from all the bother and the hassle and the noise-**

Beachgoing man:  
**With your lady-**

Beachgoing girl:  
**And your fella-**

Beachgoing couple:  
**And your kids  
And your umbrella-**

Beachgoers groups 1 & 2:  
**On a little slice of heaven by the sea!**

_The beach is now packed, and still they keep coming._

Beachgoers group 3:  
**The surf!  
The sand!  
The breeze!  
The food!  
The peace and calm,  
The restful mood!  
Amid the sea and spray,  
The city falls away...**

Beachgoers groups 1 & 2:  
**The sun!**

Beachgoers group 3:  
**The sun!**

Beachgoers groups 1 & 2:  
**The skin!**

Beachgoers group 3:  
**The skin!**

Beachgoers groups 1 & 2:  
**The salty air.**

All beachgoers:  
**The miles of beach,  
With room to spare.**

Group 1:  
**And the pretzels-**

Group 2:  
**And the custard-**

Group 3:  
**And the girls-**

Group 1:  
**The franks-**

Group 2:  
**The mustard-**

Group 3:  
**And the taffy-**

Group 1:  
**And the lotion-**

Group 2:  
**And the pier-**

Group 3:  
**The beer-**

Group 1:  
**The ocean-**

Group 3:  
**And the oysters-**

Group 1:  
**And the pickles-**

Group 2:  
**And the knockwurst-**

Group 3:  
**And the steamers-**

All:  
**It's a little slice of heaven by the sea!**

Group 1:  
**What a treat to get away  
From the frantic urban fray,  
All the fluster and the fuss-**

Group 1 & 2:  
**To this placid little beach  
Far beyond the city's reach,  
And it's only for us!**

Group 1, 2 & 3:  
**What a joy to convalesce  
From the city's wild excess,  
And forget it all like thus!  
On the sheltered little slice  
Of a seaside paradise-  
It's the last day of the season,  
So relax and have a beer!  
Hurry up, the summer's almost over-!**

_Suddenly, there's a commotion. The crowd parts, as a shadow descends. A hot-air balloon lands amidst the throngs on the beach._

Crowd: _(an excited hubbub) _Look! What's that? It's going to land! What is it? I've never seen such a thing in my life!

_Inside: the strange trio, in their oddly formal costumes. They address the astonished crowd._

Aiko:  
**Ladies...gents!**

Hazuki:  
**You, good Sir...**

Onpu:  
**And you, my friend!**

Trio:**  
Everyone...**

Hazuki:  
**Time for fun.**

Aiko:  
**Here tonight-**

Hazuki:  
**Ringing in the season's end -**

Onpu:  
**Mr. A's  
Last surprise.**

Trio:  
**Starting soon upon our stage,  
The performance of the age!**

Aiko:  
**Wonders and astonishments  
For your delectation!**

Hazuki:  
**Marvelous automations  
Of his own creation!**

Aiko:  
**Plus a finale to sweep you away...!**

Hazuki/Aiko:  
**Brought from Paree to perform just one day...!**

Trio:  
**Come see the breathtaking Doremi Harukaze!**

_The beachgoers gather their things and hurry off the beach to the theater._

_Onstage at Phantasma_

_The trio steps forward._

Aiko: Ladies and gentlemen...Mr. A is pleased to present to you his final surprise of the session...

Hazuki: A command performance by Doremi Harukaze, the most heavenly diva of this or any age...

Onpu: But first, for those of you whose taste is a little more earthbound...

Aiko: The Sweetheart of the Midway...

Hazuki: The Ooh La La Girl...

Onpu: The incomparable

All three: Momoko Asuka!

_A gaily painted vaudeville olio flies down: a stylized "vaudeville" version of the beach._

_Bathing-suited chorus girls run on and take their places. A flourish...and Momoko Asuka is revealed._

Momoko:  
**I took a little trip to Coney Island,  
To get away from all the city sprawl.  
I couldn't bear to choose  
Which bathing suit to use,  
So goodness me, I guess I brought 'em all!  
But when at last I got to Coney Island  
And found myself a spot upon the sand,  
I noticed something strange-  
There was no place to changed-**

Girls: Uh oh!

Momoko:  
**And so I asked my friends to lend a hand.**

Girls?

_The girls strategically hold up towels, so that only Momoko's head, shoulders and legs are exposed._

Girls:  
**Ahhh!**

_Momoko tosses away her blouse._

Girls:  
**Ooooh!**

_Momoko tosses away her skirt._

Girls:  
**Bathing Beauty,  
Take a look at you!**

_They drop the towels, revealing Momoko in a bathing costume._

_They go into a dance, with Momoko at the center._

Momoko & girls:  
**Bathing Beauty,  
On the beach,  
Bathing Beauty,  
Say hello!  
What a cutie!  
What a peach!  
Bathing Beauty!  
Watch her go!  
Posing under her parasol,  
She is whatcha call  
A real spectacle.  
Prim and proper, with class and poise,  
But she's got the boys  
Apoplectical!**

**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach,  
See her practic'ly glow!  
Wearing a smile and  
Giving Coney Island  
A bathing beaut of a show!**

_The towels go up._

Girls:  
**Bathing Beauty,  
On the beach!**

Momoko: Stripes!

_The towels drop, revealing Momoko in a striped suit._

Girls:  
**What a cutie,  
What a peach!**

_The towels go up._

Momoko: Spots!

_The towels drop revealing Momoko in a polka-dotted suit._

Girls:  
**Bathing Beauty!  
Bathing Beauty!**

_The towels go up._

Momoko: Checks!

Girls: _(going down the line, puzzled) _Checks? Checks? Checks? Checks? Checks?

Momoko: _(with a big innocent smile) _Oops!

_The girls pop out round parasols and open them._

Momoko & girls:  
**Bathing Beauty  
On the beach,  
See her practic'ly glow!  
Takin' the sun in  
'til the boys are runnin'!  
Rollin' in clover,  
And gettin' tan all over!  
Wearing a smile and  
Giving Coney Island  
A bathing beaut of a show!  
Bathing Beauty, say**

Momoko:  
**"Hello!"**

_Applause as Meg waves at the audience and runs off._

Hazuki: Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Momoko Asuka, the Ooh La La Girl! In just a few moments, Doremi Harukaze, the world's most celebrated songbird, will be making her American debut here at Phantasma... But first, performing feats of miraculous muscular strength...the Amazing Aiko!

_Momoko's dressing room_

_Minori paces the floor, awaiting Momoko's arrival. Finally Momoko sweeps in, wrapped in a dressing gown, bubbling with excitement._

Momoko:  
**Mother, did you watch?  
Everything is solved!  
Mother, can't you tell,  
The new routine-  
It went so well!**

**I was worried, just a touch,  
That it might've been too much,  
Just a bit, well, rather free-  
But just listen to that crowd!  
Why, they've never been so loud-  
Screaming only for me!**

Minori: Momoko-

Momoko:  
**And the master must have heard  
Every note and every word-  
Mother, tell me, did he see?**

Minori: Momoko, stop it-

Momoko:  
**Even he will now concede,  
I'm the only one he'll need-  
**_(suddenly noticing Minori's expression)  
_Mother...what's wrong?

Minori:  
**Momoko, sweet fool, you did all that you could.  
Charming, bright - and yet still not enough...**

Momoko: _(panicking) _Wh-what do you mean-

Minori:  
**How you danced!  
They're all entranced!  
Yes, all but the one whose  
Entrancement we sought.**

Momoko: He wasn't there-?

Minori:  
**Where, poor girl, do you think that he was?  
Yes, that's right, in with her all along!**

Momoko: With Doremi...!

Minori:  
**Dreaming of  
Their daughter, their love-  
Too smitten to spare you on moment of thought.**

Momoko: _(almost hysterically) _But you said-

Minori:  
**All that you gave him, it's all been a waste.**

Momoko: You're wrong...

Minori:  
**All that you've done, it has all been erased...**

Momoko: Don't say that!

Minori:  
**Now he has them...  
**_(sadly)  
_**As for us...we have both been replaced.**

_Minori exits, with an air of finality._

Momoko: _(a howl of despair)_ Noooo!

_Momoko flings herself into the chair at her dressing table, weeping_


	10. Doremi's Choice

Doremi's Choice

_Doremi's dressing room_

_Doremi sits at her dressing table, getting ready for her performance. Hana stands at her side, fascinated by her dressing routine._

_Doremi gives herself one last pat of powder._

Doremi: Hana, could you hand me those earrings? The diamond ones on the left...

_Hana obediently passes the earrings to her, and she puts them on. The finishing touch._

Doremi: There! How do I look?

Hana: _(in awe)  
_**You look so beautiful!  
So very beautiful!  
Like a queen in a book...**

Doremi: _(affectionately)  
_**You, too, are beautiful!  
So very beautiful!  
Once this performance is through,  
We'll spend some time, just us two...  
Won't that be fun?**

_A knock at the door, which opens._

Hana: Papa! Doesn't Mama look lovely tonight?

_Kotake enters. He seems to have undergone a transformation. Impeccably dressed, dapper and handsome, Kotake's visage bears no trace of his customary scowl._

Kotake: Indeed she does. As lovely as she looked the very first time I came to her dressing room door.

Doremi: _(clearly touched) _And look at you, Kotake. You look just like that handsome boy in the opera box, the one who would always toss me a single red rose...

Kotake: _(kneeling down to face Hana. Kindly)  
_**Please, Hana,  
If you don't mind,  
Would you wait outside a while...?**

Hana: May I go exploring? By myself?

Doremi:  
**Yes, but stay backstage, my dear...  
When I'm finished, meet me here.**

Hana: _(already out the door) _I will...!

_She exits._

Kotake:  
**Since our wedding day,  
Things have gone...astray.**

Doremi: Kotake-

Kotake: _(over her objections, but gently)  
_**I'm not proud of the way that I've acted.**

Doremi: We've both been-

Kotake: _(not letting himself be interrupted)  
_**The demands I've made,  
All the hopes mislaid-  
I'm aware of the price they've exacted...  
Though I've no right to ask you to,  
There's one thing more I'd have you do,  
If you love me as I love you...**

Doremi: Anything, darling...

Kotake: _(collecting himself)  
_**Don't sing the song, dear.**

Doremi: What? But, Kotake-!

Kotake:  
**You have to know something's terribly wrong, dear...**

Doremi: _(taken aback)  
_**But I have to do this-  
It's what we agreed to.**

Kotake:  
**That hell-spawned demon  
He's had us playing his game all along, dear...**

Doremi:  
**Let me just get through this-  
Listen, please...I need to.**

Kotake:  
**You need so much, it's true-  
And I've denied you.  
You need the man you knew  
Back here beside you.  
You'll have him back, I vow!  
Just ask it of me!  
But we must leave here now,  
If you still love me...**

Doremi: _(swayed, despite herself) _Do you mean it, Kotake? Truly?

Kotake: I've booked a passage for three to Cherbourg on the Atlantic Queen. It leaves in an hour, we'll have just enough time. I beg you...let's be on it, for both our sakes...and the child's.  
_(sings)  
_**Leave this place behind.**

_He withdraws, closing the door behind him. Doremi gazes at the spot where he stood._

_Suddenly, Akatsuki materializes from the shadows behind her. He places her hands on her throat, and she freezes in sudden fear - he could snap her neck in an instant. Instead, he is placing a jewelled necklace on her...the same jewelled necklace on the throat of the automation._

Akatsuki:  
**He knows his love is not enough...  
He knows he isn't what you need.  
He knows you're made of finer stuff  
I think on that, we're all agreed.  
It's time to leave him in the dust,  
It's time to be who you should be,  
It's time to do now as you must  
And set the music in you free...!**

**In moments, mere moments,  
Drums will roll.  
There you'll stand, just like before.  
The crowd will hush,  
And then in one sweet rush,  
I will hear you sing once more!  
**

**And music,  
Our music,  
Will swell and then unwind,  
Like two strands of melody  
At last entwined!**

**Fulfil us! Complete us!  
Make us whole!  
Seal our bond forever more!  
Tonight, for me,  
Embrace your destiny!  
Let me hear you sing once more!**

_He disappears into the shadows, leaving her shaken._

_The stage manager knocks on the door, opens it._

Stage manager: Miss Harukaze, it's time...

Doremi:  
**Twisted every way,  
What answer can I give?**

**I know I can't refuse  
And yet I wish I could,  
Oh God...**

Kotake:  
**Doremi, Doremi,  
Don't think that I don't care**

Akatsuki:  
**But every hope and every prayer  
Rests on you now.**

_As if in a trance, Doremi steps out onto the stage. The curtain is drawn, but she can feel the electric presence of the audience on the other side. Stage hands are busy around her, but she is oblivious to them._

_The orchestra is tuning up._


	11. The Aria

The Aria

_Backstage/onstage at Phantasma_

_In the wings, Hana appears, wandering carelessly, oblivious to the drama unfolding around her, watching the backstage action. As she walks, she vocalizes wordlessly to herself._

Stage manager: Ready on the rail?

Stage hand 1: Ready on the rail!

_She wanders past Kotake, who waits in the wings, watching Doremi intently._

Kotake:  
**Will she sing?  
Will she flee?  
What is she  
Thinking now?  
Is it him?  
Is it me?  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Stage manager: Ready on the floor?

Stage hand 2: Ready on the floor!

_Hana passes Akatsuki, waiting in the opposite wing, ready to savour his triumph._

Kotake:  
**Will she stay?  
Will she go?  
Does she know  
Even now?  
Please, Doremi,  
Stop the show-  
Devil take the  
Hindmost.**

Akatsuki: _(simultaneously)  
_**Obey your heart,  
And sing for me!  
You want is so,  
Stay and be mine  
Eternally  
Devil take the  
Hindmost.**

Kotake & Akatsuki:  
**Now it's time,  
So make your choice!  
Do it for our child!**

Akatsuki:  
**Use your head!**

Kotake:  
**No time to wait!**

Kotake & Akatsuki:  
**Hesitate,  
We're all undone!**

Stage manager: Ready in the pit?

Stage hand 3: Ready in the pit!

_Hana weaves her way past Minori, who paces nervously._

Kotake:  
**Will she stay?  
Will she go?  
Does she know  
Even now?  
Please Doremi,  
Stop the show,  
Devil take the  
Hindmost!**

Akatsuki: _(simultaneously)  
_**Obey your heart,  
And sing for me  
And sing for me,  
You, me, the child,  
Eternally,  
Devil take the  
Hindmost!**

Minori: _(simultaneously)  
_**Perhaps she won't go on,  
Perhaps she'll lose her nerve,  
Perhaps her voice won't serve  
And she will fail him now.  
And then my child and I,  
We'll get what we deserve...  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Kotake:  
**Will she stay?  
Will she go?  
Does she know  
Even now?  
Please Doremi,  
Stop the show,  
Devil take the  
Hindmost!**

Akatsuki: _(simultaneously)  
_**Obey your heart,  
And sing for me  
And sing for me,  
You, me, the child,  
Eternally,  
Devil take the  
Hindmost!**

Minori: _(simultaneously)  
_**Perhaps she won't go on,  
Perhaps she'll lose her nerve,  
Perhaps her voice won't serve  
And she will fail him now.  
And then my child and I,  
We'll get what we deserve...  
Devil take the hindmost.**

Kotake/Akatsuki/Minori:  
**Now it's time!  
No turning back!  
All is on the line!  
Here it is,  
The final dance!  
One last chance  
To get what's mine!**

_Hana circles around, past Minori, past Akatsuki, past Kotake...coming to a stop when a familiar face steps into the wings. Momoko._

_Minori slides next to Akatsuki._

Minori: _(in a low voice) _I hope Doremi is worthy of you. I hope her singing makes up for what you blindness has done to Momoko and me.

_In the opposite wing, Momoko smiles and puts an arm around the girl._

Momoko:  
**...Devil take the hindmost.**

_The orchestra quiets, then is silent._

Stage manager: And...curtain.

_The curtain opens, and Doremi steps out and faces the audience. Silence. The orchestra plays Doremi's cue...and she falters, torn._

_Then, decisively, she steps forward...and sings the song Akatsuki has written for her._

Doremi:  
**Who knows when love begins?  
Who knows what makes it start?  
One day it's simply there,  
Alive inside in your heart.  
It slips into your thoughts,  
It infiltrates your soul,  
It takes you by surprise,  
Then seizes full control.  
Try to deny it,  
And try to protest,  
But love won't let you go  
Once you've been possessed.**

**Love never dies.  
Love never falters.  
Once it has spoken,  
Love is yours.  
Love never fades.  
Love never alters.  
Hearts may get broken,  
Love endures...  
Hearts may get broken,  
Love endures.**

**And soon as you submit,  
Surrender flesh and bone,  
That love takes on a life  
Much bigger that your own.  
It uses you at whim  
And drives you to despair.  
And forces you to feel  
More joy than you can bear.  
Love gives you pleasure,  
And love brings you pain!  
And yet, when both are gone,  
Love will still remain.**

**Once it has spoken,  
Love is yours.**

_With great dignity, Kotake turns and exits. Doremi sees him leave, and breaks off, wanting to reach out to him, unable to do so. She turns back to the audience-and audience that has no idea of what has just transpired._

_With great difficulty, she gathers herself and continues._

Doremi:  
**Love never dies,  
Love never alters,  
Hearts may get broken,  
Love endures...  
Hearts may get broken,**

_Then, finding courage in the decision she has made, she gathers her all and sings with every fiber of her body._

Doremi:  
**Love never dies!  
Love will continue!  
Love keeps on beating  
When you're gone!  
Love never dies  
Once it is in you!  
Life may be fleeting,  
Love lives on...  
Life may be fleeting,  
Love lives on.**

_Alone on stage, drained, Doremi accepts the tumultuous applause, the rain of garlands, the shouts and whoops._


	12. Hana's Gone

Hana's gone

_Doremi's dressing room_

_Doremi rushes into her room. Akatsuki is there, waiting for her._

Akatsuki:  
**Ah Doremi!  
My Doremi!  
What a triumph you gave me tonight!  
My Doremi!  
All the dark, silent years now set right!  
Ah, Doremi!**

Doremi:  
**The song was beautiful.  
It sounded beautiful!  
Every note, every word.  
And it felt beautiful,  
and I felt beautiful!**

Akatsuki & Doremi:  
**Lost in the music once more,  
Feeling it rise up and soar,  
Alive once again!**

_On the dressing table, she sees a single red rose...and a letter. She opens the letter and reads._

Doremi: My dearest wife...

_Kotake appears upstage, in a pool of light, and sings the words she is reading..._

Kotake:  
**"Little Dojimi,  
I beg you, forgive me..."**

Doremi: Kotake, no!

Kotake: _(continuing)  
_**"Little Dojimi,  
Ah, what fools we once were..."**

Kotake & Doremi: _(Doremi joining in)  
_**"...long ago,  
In our youth..."**

Doremi:  
**"...in Paris,  
At the Opera"**

Kotake: _(speaking over the above) _Romantic idiots...

Doremi:  
**"Those two people are gone."**

_She continues reading the letter._

Kotake & Doremi:  
**"Now I must go, our choices are made.  
The opera is done, the last notes have been played."**

Kotake:  
**"May your Angel of Music watch over you now  
And give you what I wish I gave you somehow...  
Yours in regret..."**

_Kotake turns and begins to exit._

Doremi:  
**"Kotake."**

_She breaks off, and Kotake vanishes. Doremi remains lost in thought. Then with a start..._

Doremi:  
**Hana...**

Akatsuki: _(tensing)_ What is it?

Doremi: _(suddenly anxious)  
_**Hana...**

Akatsuki: What's wrong?

Doremi: _(in panic)  
_**Hana...**

Akatsuki: _(tensing) _What's wrong?

Doremi: She should be here! She was meant to be here!

Akatsuki: _(intense)  
_**It's that idiot Kotake!  
Why, I'll kill that drunken fool!  
That he'd dare take this child-  
A child that isn't his!  
**_(speaks)  
_Miss Aiko!

_Aiko appears instantaneously._

Aiko: Sir...?

Akatsuki: _(assertive)  
_**Seal the port! Blockade each road!  
Call in every favour that I'm owed!  
I'll be damned if he leaves this isle!**

Aiko:  
**The Vicomte de Kotake left here in a carriage.  
Saw with my own eyes, sir,  
There was no-one with him.**

_Akatsuki seizes Aiko by the collar, and pulls her within an inch of his face._

Akatsuki: _(through clenched teeth)  
_**Are you quite certain he left here alone?**

Aiko: _(nodding)  
_**Sir, was there anyone else here backstage?**

Akatsuki:  
**Yes...  
Yes!**

**Madame Asuka, she was here!  
With her vicious little sneer,  
And that comment she made-  
The ungrateful, back-biting snake!  
She's been greedy, yes indeed-  
She'll get hers now, guaranteed!**

**Go now, quickly, bring her round!  
Bring the girl back safe and sound-  
Then I'll tear her limb from limb!**

_Hazuki appears in the doorway, pushing Minori in front of him._

Minori: _(outraged) _What is the meaning of this? How dare your minions manhandle me in this fashion? I demand an answer!

Akatsuki: _(seizing her roughly) _The girl, woman! What have you done with her?

Minori: The gir? You think I took the girl? Why would I do such a thing? _(scathing) _Do you think I don't know who she is?**  
All these years,  
Who has been faithful more than I?  
No-one!**

Akatsuki: _(warningly) _Asuka...

Minori:  
**All these years,  
How can you think I'd hurt that child?**

Akatsuki: My patience is running dry...

Minori:  
**All these years,  
I've been mother to you and Doremi,  
As much as my daughter...**

Akatsuki: Enough!

Minori: _(pointedly)  
_**Do you think  
I don't know how it hurts  
To see one's own child brought to harm?**

Akatsuki: _(in a frenzy, howling)  
_**Hana! Hana! Hana...  
**_(then he slumps, hopeless)_

_Onpu materializes from the shadows._

Onpu: _(quietly) _Sir...?  
**I just passed Momoko's dressing room...  
It was empty as a tomb...  
But her mirror was smashed,  
All in pieces on the floor.**

Akatsuki: _(looks up) _Momoko...?

Minori: _(blanching) _Oh my God...

Onpu:  
**Then I saw her down the hall,  
Pulling someone pale and small,  
And she looked all about,  
And then scurried out the door.**

Minori:  
**God, I left her so distraught!  
**_(panicked, to Akatsuki)  
_**Please, who knows what she thought?  
**_(half spoken)  
_**I'm afraid she's come undone.  
But she won't hurt her...  
Momoko would never hurt her...  
How could she hurt her...?**

_Akatsuki has gone very still._

Akatsuki: _(suddenly, decisively) _I know where they've gone. But we must hurry!

Minori: In that crowd? There are millions of people out there...!

Doremi: Hana, my poor Hana...!

Akatsuki: _(suddenly decisive) _There's no time to waste...!

Doremi: Hana!

_The theatre dissolves into the madhouse that is Coney Island at night..._

_The streets of Coney Island_

_Mobs of people everywhere, a vast hallucinatory circus. Akatsuki, Doremi, Minori and the rest whirl about as if in a fog, lost in the crush of humanity._

Doremi: Hana! Hana!

Akatsuki: You there, stop!

_A small figure is seen being pulled along. Akatsuki forces his way through the crowd, puts a hand on the figure's shoulder...but when the figure turns, it is a leering, laughing dwarf..._

Doremi: That's not her...

Minori: Momoko!

Akatsuki: I think I see them, this way!

_Another small figure is seen, hand in hand with a young woman..surely this must be them!_

Doremi: _(seizing the child) _Hana, is that-?

_But when Doremi grabs the figure and turns it around, it's only a boy and his mother..._

Doremi: _(crushed) _I'm so sorry...

Minori: Momoko, please, it's OK!

Akatsuki: To the pier now, hurry!

_The impressionistic barrage of sounds and faces intensifies...then suddenly, in a great rush...silence._


	13. Love Never Dies

Love Never Dies

_The pier_

_Momoko enters, pulling Hana along. Hana squirms, but Momoko holds her in a vise-like grip._

Hana:  
**Please, Miss Asuka...  
I want to go back...  
I want my Mama...**

Momoko: _(in a cracked and broken voice)  
_**The world is hard, the world is mean,  
It's hard to keep your conscience clean...**

Hana: Please...you're hurting me.

Momoko: _(ignoring her)  
_**The sea is calm, the sea is gray,  
It washes everything away...**

_She has brought her to the very edge of the pier. Dark water churns below._

Hana: I can't swim...

Momoko: Don't worry, it's almost over...  
**Sink into the deep...  
Blue and cool and kind...  
Then drift off to sleep...  
Let the past unwind-  
Leave the hurt behind...**

_Suddenly:_

Doremi: Hana!

_Akatsuki, Doremi, and Minori have arrived. At the sound of her mother's voice, Hana looks up._

Hana: Mama...?

Momoko: No, I'm not done yet...

_Akatsuki waves the others back, and he strides purposefully toward Momoko._

Akatsuki: Let go of the girl, now!

_He moves closer and closer. Then: Momoko pulls out the gun and points it at Akatsuki. The child wriggles free and runs to Doremi._

Momoko: _(wildly)  
_**Not another step!**

_Akatsuki stops._

Akatsuki: _(through clenched teeth) _Let go of her, girl, or I promise you-

Momoko: _(wheeling on him, gun pointed)  
_**Not another word!**

_Akatsuki takes a step back._

Momoko:  
**Always wondered how  
To make you watch-  
Well watch me now!  
**_(plaintive)  
_**I took a little trip to Coney Island.  
I took a little trip, because of you.  
I did as Mother said,  
And followed where you led  
And tried to do what little I could do.**

**Well, here's the way it works on Coney Island-  
They make you pay for every little crumb.  
I gave what they would take,  
I gave it for your sake,  
Now look at me and see what I've become.  
**_(with self-loathing)  
_**Bathing Beauty,  
On the beach...  
Bathing Beauty,  
In her dressing room...  
Bathing Beauty,  
In the dark,  
On their laps,  
In their arms,  
In their beds-**

Minori: _(in horror) _Momoko, my little Momoko-

Akatsuki: What are you saying?

Momoko:  
**Who helped you raise the money?  
Who helped the permits come through?  
Who greased the wheels  
Of you high-flying deals,  
Bought you time when the bills came due?  
**

**Who swayed the local bosses?  
Curried favor with the press?  
**_(pointing gun at Minori)  
_**No, not her!**

**And who kept singing,  
Desp'rate for you favor?  
Who kept dancing,  
Hoping you would save her?  
Who kept dying,  
And this is what you gave her!  
**_(gestures with the gun; all flinch, except Akatsuki)  
_**Now that I've got your attention at last...  
Here's the big finish, and then you can go...**

_She lowers her gaze, and puts the gun to her own head._

Akatsuki: _(softly, with rising intensity)  
_**Give me the gun, Momoko...  
Give me the hurt and the pain and the gun, Momoko...  
Give me the blame for not seeing the things  
That you've done, Momoko...  
Give me the gun, Momoko...  
Give me the chance to see you clear at last...**

Momoko: _(wanting to believe)  
_**See me clear at last...**

Akatsuki:  
**You feel ugly, you feel used,  
You feel broken, you feel bruised,  
Ah, but me,  
I can see  
All the beauty underneath...**

Momoko: _(wavering)  
_**Yes...**

Akatsuki: _(inching closer to her)  
_**You've been robbed of love and pride,  
Been ignored and pushed aside-  
Even so,  
I still know  
There is beauty underneath...**

Momoko: _(mesmerized, going slack)  
_**Yes...!**

Akatsuki: _(moving still closer)  
_**Diamonds never sparkle bright  
If they aren't set just right...  
Beauty sometimes goes unseen...  
We can't all be like Doremi-**

Momoko: _(suddenly angry)  
_**Doremi!  
Doremi!  
Always Doremi!**

_She points at Doremi with the gun. And suddenly-it goes off, with a shockingly loud crack._

_Everyone freezes._

_Then Doremi begins to fall._

Momoko: No...! I didn't mean to...!

_Minori stands frozen, in shock._

Hana:  
**Mama dear,  
Say something,  
Say anything!**

Akatsuki: Asuka! Go get help! Go!

_Minori jars herself into motion, runs off._

_Akatsuki kneels next to Doremi, who is cradled by her daughter._

Hana:  
**Where's Papa?  
He should be here!  
**_(speaks)  
_Where's Papa?

Doremi: Your father - your real father -

_Hana looks up at Akatsuki, eyes wide. Tentatively, Akatsuki reaches out to console her. Hana instinctively recoils._

Doremi:  
**Look with your heart.  
And not with your eyes.  
The heart understands.  
The heart never lies.  
Believe what it feels,  
And trust with it shows,  
Look with your heart.  
The heart always knows.**

**Love's not always beautiful,  
Not at the start...**

_She falters. Hana picks up the melody._

Hana:  
**So open your arms...**

Doremi:  
**And close your eyes tight...**

Hana:  
**Look with your heart...**

Doremi:  
**And when you find love...**

_She breaks off...and swoons. She is fading quickly._

Hana: Noooooooooooooooo!

_Hana sobs, and Akatsuki takes her from her._

Akatsuki:  
**Once upon another time,  
Our story had only begun...  
I had a taste of joy...  
The most I ever knew...**

**Now there isn't any time,  
And somehow our story is done...  
And what about the girl...  
What am I to do?**

Doremi:  
**Just love...  
Just live...  
And give what you can give...  
And take the love that you  
Deserve...**

Doremi & Akatsuki:  
**Just love...  
Just live...**

Doremi:  
**And give-**

_She breaks off, unable to continue._

Akatsuki:  
**I'll give all that I have...  
And take what little I deserve.**

Doremi:  
**Come closer,  
I beg you...**

**Closer still...**

**Remember...**

**Love never dies...  
Kiss me one last time...**

_They kiss. And then...Akatsuki pulls away from Doremi's lifeless lips._

_Akatsuki lays her body gently in the sand. He looks across her lifeless form at Hana, who looks back at him._

_They stare at each other for a long moment._

_Then, Hana reaches out. She places one hand on Akatsuki's mask._

_Akatsuki stays still... And in a gesture of tender acceptance, the girl removes the mask and gazes unflinchingly at Akatsuki's ruined face. Father and daughter look into one another's eyes..._

_The end_


End file.
